1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to systems for collision avoidance in traffic by automotive vehicles and more particularly to an apparatus for avoiding collision by sensing the presence of nearby vehicles and alerting a driver.
2. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Brown et al., U.S. Pat. No. D366,848 describes the ornamental design for a vehicle proximity warning indicator.
Meyer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,437 describes a vehicle having a rearwardly directed lamp and a voltage source, a warning system for indicating to the operator of a succeeding vehicle that he is too close for driving safety and comprising an electromagnetic relay including an armature, a switch having a movable contact and first and second stationary contacts, said movable contact being actuable by said armature circuit means connecting the movable contact with the source, circuit means including a flasher unit connecting the first stationary contact with the lamp, circuit means connecting the second stationary contact with the lamp and light responsive means on said vehicle and positioned to receive light from the headlights of a succeeding vehicle, said light responsive means connected with the source for developing a signal quantity corresponding to the intensity of light received from the headlamps of a succeeding vehicle, the relay actuated switch including a relay coil connected with the light responsive means for energization thereby and for actuating the movable contact so as to selectively connect the movable contact with the first and second stationary contacts to respectively alternately or constantly energize the lamp when the intensity of light received from a succeeding vehicle is respectively above or below a predetermined value.
Cooper et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,922 describes a vehicle guidance mechanism for guiding a vehicle along a surface by means of an invisible guide line containing fluorescent material comprising an ultraviolet lamp that causes the guide line to fluoresce and emit visible light; photocell sensors mounted in the vehicle and adapted to sense the visible radiation and produce an error output signal proportional to the variation of vehicle position from a predetermined lateral position with respect to the guide line; and a control device in the vehicle adapted to steer the vehicle in response to the error signal so as to cause the vehicle to follow the guide line. An automatic contrast control circuit eliminates the effect of background illumination in the output signal and produces a constant closed loop gain with respect to the signal received from the guide line. Modulation circuitry and appropriate filters further reduce the effects of background illumination and improve the reliability and line detecting ability of the guide system. Line detection circuitry is employed to prevent operation of the automatic control device unless the vehicle is tracking a valid guide line/
Asayama, U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,408 describes a distance detecting apparatus enabling the driver of a vehicle to readily and concurrently recognize the location and direction of each of a plurality of objects present in the driver""s field of view, in daylight or darkness, and at the same time determine whether each of the objects is an obstacle to the vehicle travel. The objects sensed by a pair of first and second image sensors 3, 4 are displayed on a screen 11 in a plurality of windows 15-19. Deviations between the images of the objects within the respective windows are electrically detected so that the distance to an object within each window is individually calculated based on the deviations. Obstacles to the travel of the vehicle can be discriminated on the basis of the positions of the windows on the screen and the distances to the objects in the respective windows as detected. Infrared light can be projected onto objects present within the fields of view of the image sensors when natural visible light is insufficient for the image sensors which, in this case, are sensitive to infrared light.
Patchell, U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,539 describes a thermal emitted radiation detecting device configured to detect objects in visual blind spots of a vehicle. A low cost differential detector is used which is sensitive to temperature change. Optics train two different fields of view on the detector and switch between the two fields of view to provide a blind spot field of view and a reference field of view. The presence of a vehicle in the blind spot field of view results in a temperature difference between the two fields of view. The resulting detector output signal is compared to predetermined threshold levels and then used to provide an indication, either visual or audible. Several embodiments of optics and switching fields of view are provided.
Doi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,103 describes a distance monitoring system of a vehicle monitoring a distance to a preceding vehicle traveling directly ahead of the vehicle to determines whether the preceding vehicle is decelerating by comparing a change in the vehicle speed with a reference value which is varied according to various driving condition in relation in particular to dangers such as collisions against the preceding vehicle.
Franke et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,083 describes an apparatus for determining the distance of a vehicle from a roadway side marking. An arrangement of light sensitive sensor elements is fitted to the vehicle for optically scanning a portion of the roadway located in front of the vehicle. An evaluation unit, connected downstream of the sensor element arrangement, is also provided. Only one or a few sensor element lines are used as the sensor element arrangement. Each line scans a narrow strip of the roadway which runs in front of the vehicle, not parallel to the vehicle longitudinal axis, and extends laterally as far as the roadway side marking. The evaluation unit reads each sensor element line sequentially and processes the received signals to determine the lateral distance of the vehicle from the roadway marking. The relatively small quantity of data which accumulates permits the processing of the data digitally in real time by a conventional microprocessor. The apparatus is used as sleep warning system or lane guard for motor vehicles.
Shimizu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,382 describes a distance-measuring apparatus including light-sensitive devices formed of optical sensor arrays disposed on image-forming surfaces of right and left image-forming lenses, respectively. The apparatus uses image data from the optical sensor arrays of the light-sensitive devices to determine the distance from an object such as a vehicle in front of the apparatus via a distance detection circuit and capable of detecting condensation or a foreign particle obscuring a cover glass or defective pixels in the optical sensor arrays. In a defective condition, a defective visibility sensor emits an alarm signal to alert the operator.
Lang et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,127 describes a control device for vehicles including a sensor mounted to the vehicle for detecting an object in a monitored zone adjacent the vehicle and providing a responsive output signal when an object is detected in the monitored zone; a signaling device mounted to the vehicle for providing a speed output signal indicative of a speed of travel of the vehicle; a control unit mounted to the vehicle for receiving sensor output signals and speed output signals; and a warning device mounted to the vehicle for providing a warning signal to a driver of the vehicle, the control unit controlling the warning device to provide the warning signal responsive to the sensor output signal and the speed output signal so that the warning device provides a warning signal only when the sensor detects an object in the monitored zone and the signaling device provides a speed output signal indicating that the speed of the vehicle is below a predetermined value. A related vehicle and method are also disclosed.
Cuvelier, U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,278 describes a device for improving vehicle driving safety and comfort. The main road sign information encountered during a journey is transmitted to the vehicle, the position of the vehicle on the driving surface is continuously monitored, and the road surface is checked for the presence of foreign matter such as mud, snow, ice, etc. A set of transmitting-receiving sensors suitably arranged on the vehicle and facing the driving surface continuously observes changes in the reflective properties of the observed areas within the sensitivity range thereof. Markings defining lanes and shoulders lied with grassy, gravelly or sandy areas are sensed by the sensors as soon as the vehicle approaches or drives over them. The signals from the sensors are processed by an electronic unit controlling an on-board signalling system linked to an alarm system for warning the driver of road hazards and possible unsafe driving (straying off-course, speeding, etc.). By reacting instantly, the driver thus informed can avoid a potential accident.
Schmalz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,632 describes a backup proximity sensor for a vehicle including a first passive infrared sensor (PIR) and a second PIR vertically mounted with respect to one another on a pivotal support member. The first PIR and second PIR are angularly directed such that the respective fields of view converge, establishing a detection zone in a region behind a vehicle. A drive motor and scanning gear box are coupled to the pivotal support member and pivotally drive the first and second PIR in an oscillatory fashion about a predetermined arc. This establishes relative motion between the PIRs and a stationary warm body in the field of view of the two sensors, allowing the stationary body to be detected. A detection circuit receives output signals from the first PIR and second PIR and generates an output signal indicative of a warm body being detected by both the first and second PIRs. This eliminates false alarms generated by warm bodies outside the region of the desired detection zone.
Kato et al., EP 0918232 describes distance sensors are mounted on both ends of a vehicle and have light transmitting and receiving sections. A distance to an object is independently measured by alternately transmitting xe2x80x9cone-side-only enlarged light beamsxe2x80x9d at a time interval and receiving corresponding reflected beams from the object. In an overlapped area of the xe2x80x9cone-side-only enlarged light beams,xe2x80x9d the distance from the vehicle to the object, as well as the azimuth of the object, is measured by a triangulation distance measurement using an interval between the distance sensors as a baseline. The lengths of the xe2x80x9cone-side-only enlarged light beamsxe2x80x9d in the running direction of the vehicle are about 50 m and a width vertical to the running direction of the overlapped area is about 2 m slightly greater than a width of the vehicle.
The prior art teaches the use of thermal radiation sensing in visual blind spots, of determining through sensors when a preceding vehicle is changing its rate of speed, of determining when a vehicle is in a blind spot, of observing the reflective properties of a road surface to detect when a vehicle has strayed off-lane, of sensing an invisible guide line in the road for vehicle control, of determining the distance of a vehicle from a roadway side barrier, of vehicle following distance determination, and of warning alert devices. However, the prior art does not teach the present system of energy detection and use for warning of potential collision. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.
The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below.
A collision warning system of the invention is highly reliable in all weather and environmental conditions. It incorporates broad band optical sensors to analyze the light and heat signatures occurring in a roadway environment as a vehicle passes through it and comes into proximity of other vehicles, roadway barriers, overpasses, pedestrians and other common highway elements. Pairs of optical sensors are integral to a moving vehicle. Each of the optical sensors is enabled for the detection of visible light magnitudes and infrared light magnitudes in the external vicinity of the vehicle, and for creating corresponding electrical signals. Temporal changes in the magnitudes of the electrical signals and a probability of a collision with an object external to the vehicle, are determined and a warning signal is generated when collision is possible. Warning information is presented to alert a vehicle operator as to a possible collision. A reference sensor and an object sensor, are enabled for generating the related electrical signals. The reference and object sensors are positioned in such proximity as to determine when a collision object has entered a sensing field of view.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method of use of such apparatus that provides advantages not taught by the prior art.
Another objective is to provide such an invention capable of detecting a potential collision situation so that an operator may be able to avoid it.
A further objective is to provide such an invention capable of detecting both visible and infrared light.
A still further objective is to provide such an invention capable of detecting both a reference signal and an object signal and determining through the temporal events sensed in both of the fields, when a collision is likely.